Roughly four and a half billion years ago the planet Theia slammed into Earth, destroying Theia, melting large fractions of Earth’s mantle and ejecting a huge debris disk that later formed the moon. Scientists have long wondered what Theia was made of and where it came from. Now they have evidence that it formed very close to home.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/lost-planet-theia-that-created-the-moon-came-from-the-inner-solar-system/
5 Comments
Stupid question, why scientists wonders what it was made from? Our planet and the moon is where it’s remains are. So it was made of that stuff. No?
This feels like the ship of Theseus when it comes to Earth today and Theia/Old Earth.
Was Theia actually destroyed by Earth or did Theia and old Earth ombined to make a new planet?
All that empty space and you had to walk into my garden
Makes you wonder what the skies were like pre-collission. Did Theia appear in the sky periodically and just over the years came closer and closer? Imagine if the moon had a cycle where it appeared in the sky and grew larger and larger until a certain point before shrinking away again. Not just shadow cast from Earth, but moving closer and further, even disappearing for a bit, along with the shadow effect.
Silly, everyone knows the moon is made of cheese.